JW: How about explaining some of your other new pieces.

MM: There's a water swinging piece called "Pendulum." It's technically difficult in the sense that if you make any mistake at all, you and/or the audience is going to get wet. You have to know the choreography inside and out before you swing any container of water.

There's three major segments of techniques in the.. piece - pendulum movements, opposition swinging and the helicopter-type swinging.

The two containers are millimeters away from each other passing at high speed. I got some good "oohs and aahs" from the audience at one point where I'm on my back with it going in a propeller motion above me.  Then I take one hand  away and that really impresses them!

JW: What was the inspiration for the Pendulum?

MM: One of the things I wanted to explore was how man works with water, and how precious it is. Last year I was in Panama and got to see the canal, which is the most amazing perpetual motion machine ever! It works with nature. They have so much rainfall that it fills this lake and they use water from the lake in the locks to raise incredibly big ships.  It's really fantastic. 

JW: Tell us about "Heinz Claus-The Eccentric German Bounce Drummer."

MM: I wanted to make a true mu­sical instrument since I was a freshman in college. I loved ball bouncing, and tried all sorts of ideas then, but the time wasn't right. I remember. one time thinking supermarket doormats were the answer. You step on the mat and it triggers the response of the door. I thought I could trigger some­thing by bouncing a ball on the doormat, but that was a dead end. All I got back was blank stares. That went in the file cabinet.

Then 10 years later I began trying again. I began with the idea of building a good bouncing surface, and after two or three tries I designed a rubber drum head that I stretched on a wooden frame, and finally ended up getting just the right combination of silicone balls and drums so that I could play with angles and all that. Then I started working on triggers and interface. I knew the technology was around, but it took 12 months of asking people about it before I found someone who could help me.

It was a long haul, but I built a true mu­sical instrument rather than a sequencer. It's a unit with different kits, and I change kits with a foot pedal to change notes. The one I usually take on the road has six heads, but I have a bigger set with 11 heads that I haven't staged yet. I go up to five balls with double and triple bounces, double hits and bounces between drums, lift bounces and force bounces.

It takes a lot of accuracy. If I'm far away the accuracy drops off exponentially. I have a lot more accuracy if my hand is closer to the drum. I started with the drums on the floor, but didn't want to be on my knees the whole time, so I raised the whole set so I play them now standing up.

JW: What else have you got that's new?

MM: There's a routine with no juggling, "The Intruder," set to a Peter Gabriel song of the same name. In it I'm a rather dark and ominous burglar who takes on the at­tributes of a spider and snake sneaking into an apartment. It's done with a lot of shadow effects I control with a foot switch. There's a giant shadow cast on the wall behind me... neat things you can do to scare children!

JW: For what piece do you think you are best known?

MM: It's a hard question to answer. I just think of the latest thing I'm working toward, or trying to become known for. You almost have to continuously publicize your work to have it known by a large group of people. For most of the audiences who see you, everything you do is brand new.

JW: You must have one of the most pliable bodies in show business. Have you always worked hard on body movement?

MM: I learned early that it's very inter­esting to use the body as a prop because everyone has one. It has a tremendous universal appeal. You can work on juggling technique for years, or you can work on a physical technique for a month and it has more mileage and impact. Juggling techniques round who you are and your abilities, but physical techniques are very im­pressive. I'll do a concert and kill myself with juggling, and afterwards people will say, "I really liked that escalator/elevator mime thing you did with the curtain. How did you do that?" And that's what they'll remember you for.

JW: How long have you been in Maine?

MM: I've been coming up here for the last eight years taking workshops from Tony and others at the Barn. Then about two years ago I moved here and bought a small house. Now I have another small house inside the village of Buckfield, 10 miles from the Barn. Relocating in this line of work is difficult, though, because you leave all your old contacts behind. It took me a while to get things to click here, but now it's happening. For one thing, I'm on the touring roster for the Maine Arts Commission, which means that presenters who hire me can apply for some state funding.

JW: You must have had some pretty good reasons for moving up there then.

MM: Yea, I like it up here! Maine has some of the biggest yahoos anywhere, the audiences are really warm. There's also a great community of artists here-Sam Kilbourn, Benny Reehl, Randy Judkins, Fred Garbo... In my town is Rick Adams, with Heart 0' Gold Vaudeville, and another juggler, Michael Miclonn.

Avner Eisenberg is out on Peaks Island, and he's a good example of the people who've moved up here. Avner had done his thing on Broadway, then did his big Hollywood thing with "Jewel of the Nile," and he was ready to go "big time." Then he just decided you have to buy into all that to do it right, and he wasn't ready to buy into it. People have moved up here to be creative, so that they don't have to become these totally outrageous public people. It's laid back, it's quiet up here.

JW: But why did you all choose Maine, instead of Montana or Alaska?

MM: I think it has a lot to do with the Barn. Tony Montanaro was first. He came up here and bought an old barn on top of a mountain and built a theatre inside it. Then he started teaching workshops in the winter at 20 degrees below zero-and people came! But now, because it's still not fully insulated, it shuts down shortly after Halloween.

Things are a lot busier here in the summer. There's a full schedule of workshops and shows at the Barn during the summer, and Maine has about 70 different festivals in all, including The Vaudeville Festival in Gardiner produced by Benny Reehl.